Christmas Pudding

I wish I had an old passed-down-through-the-generations recipe for Christmas Pudding, but I don’t. What I have instead – and which I value nearly as much – is this recipe from Nigel Slater. I’ve used it so many times over the years it now feels like Nigel has passed it down to me.

What really makes it stand out from pretty much every other Christmas Pudding I’ve ever tasted or heard of is this: people actually want to eat it. Even on Christmas Day. Even after having eaten quite a lot of other stuff. Even the people who get in early at not wanting to cause offence by stating that they ‘just don’t like Christmas Pudding’ seem to manage to put away a bowl of this with gusto.

Enough for 3 x 900ml basins and a little ‘un. I work on a rolling programme of making at least one more pudding than is needed so that it can roll over to the following Christmas and have a full year to mature into a heavier, richer pudding.

Nigel uses brandy but I like the extra fruitiness from sloe gin. This year it will be Williams Chase Sloe and Mulberry Gin. But it’ll still be brandy for flaming.

1. Put the dried fruits, peel and cherries into a large bowl and pour over the sloe gin (or brandy). Don’t worry that the booze will seem to disappear almost immediately into the fruits. Cover with a tea-towel and leave overnight. The occasional stir if you’re up is a good idea.

2. Grate the apples into another large bowl and add the orange juice & zest, beaten eggs, suet, sugar, breadcrumbs and flour. Stir into all that the boozy fruit and spices.

The mixture is then ready to go into your pudding basins. Steam the 900ml ones for three and a half hours. Store your puddings somewhere cool and dry.

To reheat before eating steam for the same length of time, turn out, slug the brandy over and flame.